When said as a phrase, au revoir is usually translated directly to “goodbye. " The phrase translates more closely to “to see again” or “to meet again,” however. Au translates into “to. " Revoir translates into see again, meet again, or revise. Pronounce au revoir as oh ruh-vwah.
Avoid using salut in formal settings. Also note that salut can be used to greet someone as well as saying farewell. The term has a variety of translations, including “greeting,” “salute,” and “all the best. " Pronounce salut as sah-lyoo.
Use “adieu” sparingly; this phrase means “goodbye forever” and is generally only used when you will never see this person again in your life. This phrase can also be said upon your last visit with someone who’s dying. A translates into “to,” and Dieu means “God. ” Translated more literally, this phrase says “to God” and is the same thing as saying “go with God” or “Godspeed. ” A rough pronunciation of adieu would be ah-dyoo (“oo” as in “book”)
Bonne means “good. ” Journée means “day. ” A general pronunciation of the phrase is bun zhoor-nay . Say “passez une bonne journée” in slightly more formal situations. This translates more literally to “have a good day” or “spend a good day. ” Pronounce the sentence as pah-say in bun zhoor-nay.
Bonne means “good. ” Soirée means “evening. ” Pronounce this phrase as bun swah-hay.
Voyage means “travel,” “trip,” or “journey,” so of the three, bon voyage translates most directly into “have a good trip. ” Pronounce it as bohn vwah-yah-zh, with the final “ge” sounding like a soft “j. " Route means “road,” “route,” or “way. ” The phrase is generally used to say “have a good journey” or “have a safe journey,” and it is pronounced bun rhoot. Vacances means “holiday” or “vacation,” so the phrase “bonnes vacances” means “have a good vacation” or “have a good holiday. ” Pronounce it as bun va-kahns.
The phrase can be translated to mean “good luck” or “good continuation,” as “continuation” means the same thing in both French and English. Pronounce the phrase as bun kohn-teen-u-ah-see-ohn. (The final ’n’ is soft, nasal. )
Prends means “take. " Soin means “care. " In this context, de means “of. " Toi means “you. " Pronounce the entire phrase as prahn swa doo twah. (swa uses a short ‘a’, as in ‘cat’; doo uses ‘oo’ as in ‘book’. )
Bonne chance is used when actual luck or fortune is involved. Chance means “luck,” “chance,” or “fortune. " Pronounce bonne chance as bun shahns. Bon courage is used to tell someone something along the lines of “be persistent” or “keep at it. " Courage means “courage” or “fortitude. " Pronounce bon courage as bohn kooh-hazh.
Translated more directly, à la prochaine means “to the next,” essentially meaning “until the next time we meet. " Pronounce à la prochaine as “ah lah pro-shen. Directly translated, à bientôt means “to soon,” but the basic meaning in English is “see you soon. " Pronounce à bientôt as ah bee-ahn-toe.
Translated more directly, it means “until later. " The à means “to,” plus means “more,” and tard means “late. " This phrase is already fairly informal, but you can make it even more informal by dropping off the tard and just saying à plus. Pronounce à plus tard as ah ploo tahr.
Demain means “tomorrow” in English. Pronounce the phrase as ah doo-man. (“oo” as in ‘book’, “man” with short ‘a’ as in ‘cat’. )
Say à tout à l’heure to say “see you soon” or “see you in a while. " Pronounce it as ah toot ah leur. Say à tout de suite” to say “see you in a second” or “see you in a little while. " Pronounce it as ah too’ doo soo-eet. (“doo” with ‘oo’ as in ‘book’. )
Ravi means “delighted. The rest of the phrase, “d’avoir fait ta connaissance,” translates roughly when broken down into its individual parts. When kept together, though, it can be translated as “to have met you. " Pronounce the statement as hah-vee da-vwahr fay tah kohn-nay-sahns.
